[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hey, hey, hello >> bill: hey, good morning everybody. good to see you today and thank you for joining us on the "full court press" here on current tv. coming to you live from our nation's capital and bringing you all of the news of the day here from washington, d.c., around the country and around the globe. we'll also take your calls, give you a chance to talk about the issues, what it means to you. 1-866-55-press. the toll free number. and today, how about it. big day. first anniversary of the repeal

of don't ask don't tell. you know that policy about gays living a lie in the military. getting rid of it. rick santorum, another right wing creep said would be the end of america's military. the pentagon reporting the program has been hugely successful. recruiting is up and so is morale. they should have done this -- we all should have done it a long time ago. all right. we'll get into that and a whole lot more here on the "full court press" here this -- this -- what is it? thursday. thank you. thursday morning! first we go out to los angeles and say good morning to lisa ferguson. hi lisa, good morning. >> hi, bill. it is almost friday. good morning everybody. team romney is out with a new strategy in light of the newly leaked video that shows him shunning half of americans who he says are dependent on the government. so what's the new plan to see

more of him a lot more of him in campaign appearances ads and speeches around the country. the main goal is to steer the campaign away from talks of policies and focus instead on money like creating jobs and ways to cut government spending. he's targeting two major groups with this new move, women who have a strong preference for president obama in the polls and the everyday american. many of whom are likely suspicious of him right now especially considering his 47% remark and his thoughts that middle class income is about $250,000. this whole campaign switch is a sign romney knows he's in trouble and he can't depend on the debates to turn his poll numbers around. while he's not backtracking on his 47% remark, he does seem to be covering it up a bit. in a q&a session on univision he promised to be president for the 100% and to tackle illegal immigration. he says he's not in favor of mass deportation and that what he means by self-deportation is

for people to decide on their own whether to go back home or enter this country legally. but when it comes to specific policy we haven't heard much from him. back with more. stay with us. action. trickle down does not work. in romney's world, cars get the elevator and the workers get the shaft. that is a whole bunch of bunk. the powerful may steal an election, but they can't steal democracy.

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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. 47 days to go until the day november 6th. can mitt romney recover? help loy everybody -- hello everybody. what do you say? it is thursday, september 20. so good to see you today. and here we go. off again on the "full court press." three hours of the best

political talk in the nation because you make it happen. we'll give you a little ammunition to talk about and then you take it from there. the "full court press" coming to you live from our nation's capital in our studio here on capitol hill in washington, d.c. we've got our eye on members of congress back in town for two days. came in late yesterday. some events last night but no big votes last night. votes today and tomorrow but not much expected. then they're out of town until the election. campaigning for re-election. most of them. so we'll tell you what's happening here in our nation's capital, around the country around the globe and of course, that's it. take your calls at 1-866-55-press. an army of operators standing by to take your calls of course. good to have you with us today and good to see the whole team back again. peter ogborn and dan henning with cyprian bowlding, videographer. hello, cyprian and hello peter

and dan. >> hello. >> bill: what's going on? no such thing as global warming. we've been getting these once a week about how much more of the arctic ice is melting or the glaciers are melting or the ice flows or whatever, the polar bears losing their habitat. just goes on and on. this i found stunning. as to the extent of -- so the latest report is that record amount of arctic ice has melted. gone. they're discovering parts of the arctic they never even knew existed. they've seen parts of the arctic we've never seen before. because it was all under ice. mark is head of the national snow and ice data center. never heard of that before. but it sounds to me like that's a place you would go -- >> it sounds darn official. >> bill: doesn't it? that's a place you would go if

you wanted to know how much snow had melted. he's got it, man. this is a big bunch of territory here. >> look at the united states. we're thinking all of the states east of the mississippi plus throwing in minnesota iowa, montana, arkansas, louisiana the dakotas nebraska, kansas, we've lost an area -- larger than half the size of the united states. >> bill: yeah. what's left? california, oregon and washington. i mean -- >> scary. >> bill: that is really scary. now all of that ice melts. where does all of that water go? right? >> right. by the way -- >> bill: glug, glug, glug. >> that's in ten years' time that we've lost that much. that's sort of mind-blowing. >> bill: think how many centuries it took to build up the ice. so anyhow, it is frightening but jim inhoff and all of the

other -- they don't care. they don't think it means anything. it is just cyclical. it will all freeze again next year. that's the way it works. mmm, man. what a line-up today. congressman chris van hollen, the ranking democrat on the budget committee. we haven't seen him in studio since charlotte. he was there with us in charlotte on radio row. he will be in studio with us today. peter fenn, democratic strategist will be along as a "friend of bill." and clarence page, legendary columnist for "the chicago tribune," we'll be talking to him as well about all of the latest. again, taking your calls. but first... >> this is the "full court press." >> good morning on this thursday. other headlines making news. we're about due for this headline. lindsay lohan arrested again. tmz reports the actress hit a man while trying to park her porsche in front of a new york hotel early yesterday morning and slurred her words and then

fled the scene. >> that's weird. >> police caught up to her about 30 minutes later charging her with leaving the scene of an accident. relatively minor issue. the man she hit was not seriously injured. not the first time she's been involved in a hit-and-run. >> bill: you're not allowed to hit anybody and run even if you don't kill them, you know. >> take her license away! she has no business driving! >> bill: she lost it once. >> she did. keep it away. cut it in half. put it in a lockbox. don't let her get behind the wheel of a car. >> a bakery is hoping cupcakes can help keep congress together. the hill reports the california-based sprinkles cupcake chain started a new anti-partisanship campaign called pay it forward. they're giving a free dozen cupcakes to every lawmaker who wants a box on one condition they have to gift those sweets to a congressional colleague on the other side of the aisle. >> bill: gillick gimmick

gimmick, gimmick. i'll send mine to michele bachmann. yeah right. >> don't you dare. >> the new york city police department is videotaping many more of its suspects interrogations lately because of what is happening on television. part of what's called the csi effect. abc news reports more juries have come to expect video of interrogations as being routine because of what they're seeing on crime dramas on television. >> no! >> the police commissioner, new york city announced they're adapting and they admit that csis and other shows have fueled the assumption that videotaping everything is normal so they're starting to do -- >> your honor i'm going to see to need the interrogation tapes because i've seen how they do it on the tv. that's amazing! >> bill: you know what it is? this is entertainment leading real life. >> yes. >> stranger than fiction. >> bill: okay. dan, we thank you. again, well, the big story

remains on the political front the story we've been talking about for the last three days, can't get enough of it, can you that is the romney video that infamous video captured down in boca raton florida. it looks like it turns out to be the hired help. somebody who was hired to help with the fund-raiser who took the video. you know, you just can't trust the hired help. from now on, they're going to have to give a saliva test for the people who come in for the $50,000 a plate fund-raisers which this was in boca raton florida. the man who hosted the party has apologized to mitt romney for somehow allowing the video to be taken. but at any rate, we know what the video shows and says. mitt romney telling his donors behind closed doors that he doesn't care about one half of americans because they're a bunch of freeloaders, a bunch of slugs, a bunch of moochers who don't pay any income tax.

and just hang around waiting for the next government handout. now, of course, as we pointed out, there's more information every day about how wrong he is on the facts. mitt romney wrong on the facts. in that these 46 -- actually to be precise according to the tax policy center, the 46.4% of americans who don't pay any income tax don't do so for a very very sound reason that mitt romney of course could never understand. that is they don't make enough money to pay income tax. most -- 60% do have jobs as we pointed out. so they're not freeloaders. 25% are elderly on seniors living on fixed incomes. nothing but social security which, by the way of course, they paid into and they earned and they deserve. so this population of 46.4% are

made up of seniors. they're made up of military families. they're made up of the working poor. and nick christoph in "the new york times" points out this morning they're also made up of our military on duty in iraq and afghanistan who shame on us, don't make enough money in combat to have to pay federal income taxes and when they come back from combat, when they come back from iraq and afghanistan and go to the v.a. hospital, i guess by mitt romney's definition, they're part of the moocher class. they're part of the 47 because they're getting government benefits. of course, mitt romney is, too by taking advantage of his tax credits. he's so wrong on the facts that as we've pointed out, scott brown, senator of massachusetts says uh-huh, i don't agree with mitt on this. susan collins senator from

maine, republican doesn't agree with this. linda mcmahon hope she loses no, i don't agree with him. yesterday, another u.s. senator republican senator dean heller came out from nevada and said mitt romney was wrong with his vision of america and his disdain for 50% almost of americans. so that's the first point. again how wrong mitt romney is on the facts. i know you want to talk about that. 1-866-55-press. our toll free number. the second point is how lame -- and this surprises me. how lame the response of the romney campaign is. look, they announced this week would be a whole new start to the campaign. a whole new beginning. they're going to have new ads they were going to have a new message. they were going to have new life in the campaign. redirection of the campaign. well, as it happened, they spent the last -- all this week just responding to this video.

but in the lamest possible way. so let's follow the progression. we'll bring you up to date here. first it was remember -- i don't back away from those remarks. i stand by those remarks. mitt romney had a last-minute emergency news conference he called out in costa mesa, california. i stand by the remarks. then the next day he said yeah, well, i still stand by the remarks but you know, this is just little bits and pieces so release the whole video. you have to release the whole video to understand what i was trying to say. well, guess what, mother jones did release the entire video. and then mitt romney says all right, well, i want to change the subject because maybe i said that. but did you hear what barack obama said back in 1998? he made that point down in miami. >> this idea of redistribution

follows from the idea that if you have business, you didn't build it. someone else did that. it is the same concept. >> bill: referring to some 1998 speech by barack obama when he was a state senator from illinois. and he said something about he understood all of the frustration with government. he agreed with a lot of the criticism of government because government often screwed up and didn't get things right. and he also agreed in part with the idea that there was -- that there was too much money going to the -- to people at the very top and too little going to the middle class and the poor and so he had to do something -- we had to do something with that in order to distribute the wealth. so mitt romney is now trying to make that equivalent of what he said writing off 50% of the american people and calling them moochers. no, that's not going to work. that was a lame thing. yesterday, mitt romney said this video -- everybody knew he said in miami debunked.

no it hasn't! it hasn't been debunked. and then his wife -- and then mitt romney said i'm reaching out to the entire 100% of americans. we want everybody to support us. >> romney: this is a campaign about the 100%. over the last several years you've seen greater and greater divisiveness in this country. we hope to come back together but instead you've seen us pull apart. >> bill: he's not reaching out to the 100%. he just trashed 50% of americans and said he knows obama supporters, he's never going to ask for their vote. now then ann romney jumps into it yesterday. and she says oh, but here's the classic, classic lame excuse. >> i know the guy. i know him really well. i know he cares. that's why we're running. so it is unfortunate when something gets misinterpreted like this or it is taken out of context. >> bill: taken out of context? what possible context is it okay to say that 50% of americans are

freeloaders? what possible context can you say that military families and seniors living on social security consider themselves victims and are not doing anything to improve their own life. finally now yesterday they came out and said well, here's the problem. this video you can't believe anything that you've read about it because the video -- the whole release of the video there are two minutes missing. out of like a 20-minute talk, there are like two minutes missing. and that raises the question, what are in those two minutes? what do you think could be in those missing two minutes? it certainly doesn't debunk the rest of the video. what could mitt romney have said in those two missing minutes that would change the nature of this story? hmm? one suggestion is that mitt romney -- i love your thoughts

on that. 1-866-55-press. get creative. one person suggested mitt romney told his friends well, don't worry about anything because i've invited clint eastwood to speak at our national convention. >> yeah. maybe the two minutes could have been romney talking to a chair. >> could have been. >> bill: i think the two minutes could have been mitt romney saying everything else i said -- 18 minute comment about the poor and all of that stuff don't pay any attention to that because i was drunk. right? >> just kidding. >> bill: what could he possibly have said in the two minutes that could change it? he is in a deep, deep hole and he's still digging. that's the problem. 1-866-55-press. the mitt romney video. any way he can escape it. what's it say to you? are you part of the 47%?

>> announcer: on your radio on tv the "bill press show." new on current tv. perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv.

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the name of the show. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 26 minutes after the hour. mitt romney says i was taken out of context. and besides, there are two minutes missing from the video so you can't believe anything about what's been reported about that video. we've seen the video. we've heard the video. mitt romney is speaking from the heart. saying anybody who doesn't --

basically anybody who doesn't make as much money as i do and doesn't know how to hide their income in the cayman islands doesn't count. they're just a bunch of freeloaders and moochers. kevin is calling from chicago. good morning. >> caller: good morning, bill. >> bill: how does this whole thing strike you? >> caller: unbelievable. a couple of quick points, he's changing the subject because they finally realize that the comment he made crapped over about half of his base. according to tax policy institute, about the majority of the southern states, those uneducated white guys down there. secondly -- >> bill: just to reinforce that, all ten of those states are red states, right? only two of which barack obama carried in 2008. so he's crapping on his base. >> caller: exactly. secondly, so let's change the subject to this redistribution of wealth. this old video. let's talk about that. how about the redistribution of our wealth of taxpayer dollars going to farm subsidies like

daniels and cargill and all of the crap they send to the oil companies and everything else that are illustrious republicans have allowed to happen over the years. our tax money away. that's a big redistribution of wealth. >> bill: now that is an excellent point. in fact, there's no bigger champion of redistribution of wealth when you think about it than mitt romney. and paul ryan by the way. because they want to redistribute more wealth. even more wealth up to the people at the very top. how? by giving them not only extending the bush tax cuts but by increasing the bush tax cuts. increasing the tax cuts for the wealthy which is doing what? it is putting more wealth, taking more wealth away from the middle class away from the poor and putting it all the way up to those people who are at the very top of the ladder. there is a chance of redistribution of wealth. it is mitt romney and it is wrong.

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." about global warming. they just want to shut it down and go home. ed is calling from frederick maryland. what do you say, ed? >> caller: good morning. >> bill: good morning. >> caller: on the republicans, i (vo) jennifer granholm ... >>for every discouraged voter, there are ten angry ones taking action. trickle down does not work. in romney's world, cars get the elevator and the workers get the shaft. that is a whole bunch of bunk. the powerful may steal an election, but they can't steal democracy.

>> bill: coming to you live from our nation's capital the "full court press," brought to you by the communication workers of america this morning. the great men and women of the communication worker's union under president larry cohen scoring up a big victory with verizon in a settlement of their negotiations with verizon. just agreed to a new four-year

contract. making cwa more than ever the union for the information age. check out their good work at -- their web site, cwa-union.org. and you'll read this morning in your business section about the new agreement with verizon. back to your calls here about mitt romney and the video and his attempt to say well, you know, it was taken out of context or it was -- there was two minutes missing from the video so therefore the whole thing is inoperative. a little reminder speaking about people who are having a hard time making ends meet, if that's you and you're looking to make some extra income, you ought to consider incomeathome.com. you've heard me talk about them before. america's leading work from home business. this is something you can do, no matter your age education or experience. you can literally earn money from your own home, your own

kitchen table using your own laptop and do it 24/7. all you need is a little extra time and the training you'll get from incomeathome.com. so if you're sick of living paycheck to paycheck and worried about job security or retirement, if your dreams to earn some extra income from home part-time or full time, check out incomeathome.com. they're even giving away $1,000 to somebody just for checking them out. and that somebody could be you. visit incomeathome.com. incomeathome.com. yes, mitt romney, changing his tune every day. how he is trying to respond to this video which has just sent his campaign back, back, back on its heels and they've spent the entire week trying to figure out how to respond. totally off message. michael calling from jonesboro georgia. hello, michael. >> caller: hey, bill, how you

doing? >> bill: i'm doing good. what do you think about this? thanks for your call. >> caller: i was telling the man when he answered the phone as a disabled veteran i'm part of the 47%. it is appalling to me to hear somebody that's running for commander in chief the free world get in a closed room environment in front of a bunch of snobs and to say something like that and then to hear him yesterday on tv in front of the latino community and say oh, believe me, i really believe this now. i really do want to be president of the 100%. you know. to hear him lie and say well, president obama under his administration, there are more people 40 some million people now on food stamps and the jobs aren't coming. what he's failing to realize and what they don't say is that it took bush eight years and two wars to get us where we're at.

they expect him to do it in four years with a no-do congress that vowed from the very beginning we're going to do everything we cannot to block -- to block him not to make this nation work. so what they've done the republicans and cantor and mcconnell, they held the nation hostage because they had hostility in their heart toward the president of the united states. then to hear ann romney lie. oh yeah, you all took rich words out of context. no. they weren't taken out of context. he spoke the truth. >> bill: michael very, very well said! you got it all together, man. i gotta tell you. you notice, publicly yesterday he said this is a campaign for 100% of america. privately, behind closed doors you see the video. he said it. can't deny he said it. doesn't deny he said it. he said what he really believes. 50% of americans are just scum. that's what he really said.

scumbags. freeloaders, moochers, whatever word you want to use. that's what mitt romney really thinks. really thinks of -- by the way a lot of republicans, people who just happen to be on hard times -- i think by mistake but will vote against their own economic self-interest particularly some seniors. they would have voted for mitt romney and may still unless they know what mitt romney thinks about them. lon is calling from los angeles. hey, good morning. thanks for joining us. >> caller: good morning, bill. keep up that "full court press"! i just wanted to add romney's 47% includes thousands of millionaires who don't pay any federal income taxes. >> bill: in fact, lon i think it includes mitt romney himself. >> caller: well, he probably is included in the group of victims but we don't know for sure because he won't release all of his tax returns. >> bill: amen. of course.

>> caller: what a janous. >> bill: if you define it as people who don't pay the income taxes, there are a lot of millionaires and billionaires in that group who don't pay any income taxes, not like the rest of the people in the group. because they don't make enough money but because they make so much money they can hire the best tax accountants who tell them how to hide their money in the cayman islands or bermuda. hey, lon thanks for the call. tim in syracuse, new york. >> caller: good morning, bill. when i heard you make the comment that videotape got captured by one of the hired help, i thought to myself that maybe if you would pay your hired help a decent, livable wage they might not be so inclined to throw you overboard watching fat cats eat prime rib at $50,000 a plate! >> bill: good point. how did they let an average working class american into that rarefied atmosphere, right?

>> caller: i had to say to your caller, i had to call back because i lost the call in a dead zone because i'm one of those people that's on my way to work at 6:00 in the morning driving along so i can earn a living. >> bill: you're another victim. >> caller: i feel like it. i'll feel more like it if mitt romney gets elected. >> bill: so will all. he doesn't care about working stiffs like you tim. good to hear from you. thanks for the comment. >> bill: in schaumburg, illinois hey tracy, good morning. >> caller: hi, bill, how are you? >> bill: all right. we're bouncing all over the country today. i love it. kale i just had a quick comment about the redistribution of wealth. i know that my federal tax dollars go into the federal government and being in illinois, we only get back about 75 cents for every dollar whereas a lot of other states get back more than they put in. >> bill: a lot of the red states in particular, by the way. >> caller: exactly. >> bill: a lot of the states mitt romney was talking about where the population is so poor, they don't get enough tax

revenue to take care of their basic needs. they're the ones that get the extra money from people like you, tracy. >> caller: i know. that's all i wanted to say. you have a nice day. >> bill: indeed, tracy. thank you for listening. thank you for watching. to me, every day -- notice president obama hasn't even been talking about this except for the one time on david letterman. all he said on david letterman all he said -- i thought he said exactly what he should have said is you know, mitt romney's gotta learn if you're president of the united states or if you even aspire to be president of the united states, he has to care about all of the people in this country. not just the people who are as rich as you are. cynthia in grand rapids, michigan. hello, cynthia. >> caller: hi, bill. how do youing? >> bill: i'm great. what's on your mind? >> caller: my concern i've got a 76-year-old mother. he said if she get a check through the mail -- she was a social worker. and she worked most of her life.

>> bill: she paid her -- her payroll taxes and her social security tax, you know that. >> caller: right. now because she gets a social security check, he says that she's a victim. remember guys he said on tv that he is what he is or he is what he say that's what he is. >> bill: exactly cynthia. by the way, he means it when he says it. he considers your mother, just the fact that even though she paid into it all of her life, probably 30, 40 years whatever as a social worker. she paid into it and now she's able to enjoy the social security that she deserves, that she earned, in mitt romney's eyes, she's a no good bum. she's a victim. she's a parasite. she's just a moocher. and living on the government handout. i don't know how you run for president and start off by

dismissing and writing off and dumping on one half of the american electorate. maybe clarence page who is smarter than i am, clarence page long-time columnist for "the chicago tribune," maybe he can explain it to us. he's coming up next here on the "full court press." so stick around. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." dose of politics from a fresh perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv.

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>> bill: hey 14 minutes now before the top of the hour. we are still talking about -- everybody is still talking about the infamous mitt romney video released by mother jones on monday. released in its entirety a day later. and it seems that the romneys themselves can't decide what the best response to it is. mitt romney says damn right. that's what i said and i stand by my remarks. but ann romney yesterday saying it was all taken out of context. i mean what are reporters doing? here they are again. reporters taking it out of context. reporters and columnists. but clarence page would never take anything out of context. the legendary columnist for "the chicago tribune" joining us this morning. clarence, how you doing? >> i'm doing fine. you know this is really remarkable because i can understand arguing out of context on something that happened months ago but he has

talked about it on fox news with neil cavuto and still says it is out of context. >> bill: by the way, we've got the entire video. remember they said hey release -- okay, release the entire video. so we can see the context. well, we've seen the context and it is still amazing -- what do you think this says -- his comments say about mitt romney? >> it says a lot about his view of the world and of average people. i hate that term average people. but what can we say? ordinary people. how about that. ordinary americans. you know, even -- right-wingers say that -- will criticize romney for conflating the figures here, you know. he takes the 47% who are likely to vote for obama and conflights

that with the -- conflights that with the 47% who don't pay income tax ignores the earned income tax credit and all of the reasoning behind that which caused ronald reagan to support the idea of low income not paying taxes. >> bill: the earned income tax credit signed into law by gerald ford in march 19 -- '75 i think. >> that sounds right. right in that window there. and expanded by reagan and expanded again by bill clinton. well this is mitt romney trying to reach out to the far right. even though we're more than a month away from the election. it is just astounding to me. it doesn't sound sincere. it sounds to me like this is back in may. it sounds like romney was testing out lines with the

right-wingers he wanted to reach in the wake of being pummeled by newt gingrich and other republican candidates. >> bill: clarence page with us. you can follow his work at chicagotribune.com or follow him at twitter at ct time. clarence, here is my question. is mitt romney one of the 47%? [ laughter ] >> he's part of the 47% that isn't likely to vote for barack obama. >> bill: but if you define it -- as people who don't pay federal income tax. we know he paid 13% in one year. that's all we know. >> he's talking about people getting government benefits and feeling entitled. he feels entitled to it. but call up the right wing rhetoric i wish the old mitt romney would shake sense into the new mitt romney. what's the matter with you?

>> bill: i was at an event last night here in washington speaking and some guy came up to me afterwards and said you know, i thought he made a very good point. the one thing that mitt romney has really accomplished in his career is -- if you want to call it, romney care in massachusetts where he showed he can work with democrats, work with people across the aisle and really get something done that's something to be proud of. that's the one thing he runs away from. >> people i've talked to from massachusetts say he was a decent governor. and of course, that is -- the crowning achievement of his political career. and i'm sure he was planning to run on that -- don't you? >> bill: yes. >> back in those days, before the tea party emerged before you had barack obama as president and before you -- before the republican leadership in washington was in such disarray as it is now. then you know, that would have made perfect sense for him.

but he wouldn't have gotten -- you could see he barely got through the primaries as it was. with anybody but romney movement coming at him from every side. frustrating for republicans now is they see romney doing badly in the polls. and they think you know, gee none of the rest of the candidates could make it at all. >> bill: gee if we only had rick santorum or michele bachmann or something. >> less the reporters you hear -- michele bachmann, santorum was up there, the gifts that keep on giving. >> bill: clarence, i have to ask you as the chief columnist for "the chicago tribune," one of many hats that you wear, the chicago teacher's strike is over. kids are back in school. who won that contest? >> i think in the short term, the teachers won.

in the long run emanuel will. but this is a contest that, in my view, bill, had no winners. it just had losers which were the students because they lost over a week in the classroom that they sorely need. the problem is the city doesn't have any money. in fact, i've been -- i've been a journalist in chicago since 1969 under the original mayor daley, richard the first i have seen mayors come and go. one thing we all have in common is when the teachers want a new contract they go behind closed doors and the mayors give them whatever they want to try to avoid a strike. they used to have strikes so commonly that students would just expect them each fall, you know. to be ready for another school strike. but the last 25 years they didn't have any. because richard ii gave the

teachers what they wanted. and now you know, they're so deep in debt from pensions mainly, the city and the state that they're probably going to have to close 100 schools now and lay off that many teachers. >> bill: we have to run along here now. thank you clarence page. clarence page. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

you've heard bill's views, now let's hear yours. politically direct means no b.s. just telling you what's going on in politics today. >>at the only on-line forum with a direct line to bill press. >>it's something i've been waiting for a long time. >>join the debate now. >> announcer: taking your >> announcer: radio meets television. taking your e-mails on any topic at any time. this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current

tv. >> bill: victoria jones from talk radio news here in studio with us here at the top of the next hour. followed by congressman chris van hollen on the romney video. barbara jay richardson e-mails in hey mitt, we're not buyen. you're lyin'. giant has a good idea for a t-shirt. i spent a billion dollars and all i got is this lousy candidate. i like that. dana adds what makes it even more scary is the fact that if romney were to win shudder the presidency his inept and stupid staff members would follow him to the white house. and frank carroll points out that romney must really like firing people because he just fired 47% of the american electorate. the beat rolls on. mitt romney digging in deeper and deeper.

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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hey hello everybody. good thursday morning! welcome to the full "full court press" here on current tv this thursday, september 20. so good to see you today. thank you for being part of the program as we bring you up to date on the big news of the day here in washington, around the country, and around the globe and ann romney rather says that poor mitt, his comments about the 47% were taken out of

context. well i want to know is what possible context is it okay to stay that one half of americans are slugs moochers and freeloaders? ann, i think ann romney had better stick to dressage and stay out of politics. all right. that and a whole lot more here on today's "full court press." but first, the latest, today's current news update from lisa ferguson joining us from los angeles. hi lisa. good morning. >> hey bill. good morning everyone. looks like mitt romney's up to his old tricks again of taking the president's words out of context. team romney is trying to distract from his leaked 47% remark by turning the tables on president obama. showing a 14-year-old clip of him talking about the values of redistribution. the whole strategy here is obvious. make the president seem like he wants to take money away from hard working americans and instead give it to everybody else. well turns out republicans left out a big chunk of the

president's remarks. the part where he talks about fostering competition and innovation in the market place. romney is saying america does not work by becoming dependent upon distribution but the president's team is firing back and says he wants to create a country that gives everyone a fair shot. we can count on more back and forth over the economy in the upcoming debates. moderator jim lehrer of pbs has released a list of topics for the october 3rd debate at the university of denver. he says three of the six segments will be devoted to issues on the economy. the others will focus on healthcare and the role of government. and facebook is teaming up with google, amazon and yahoo to launch a new lobbying arm aimed at stopping the government from placing new rules on the internet. capitol hill veteran michael beckerman is leading the internet association and plans on tackling issues like piracy, copyright, privacy and security.

more bill press is coming up after the break. we're in chat, current.com/billpress. there's joy and now there's joy >>i feel like i don't even know you. >>just stay on your side of the screen, okay? >>brought to you by geico. 15 minutes could save 15% or more on car insurance. visit geico.com for a free rate quote.

>>i jump out of my skin at people when i'm upset.

they're doing this this corruption based on corruption based on corruption. >>that's an understatement, eliot. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 47 days left and mitt romney says let's get it over with. let's have it today because i know i'm going to lose. might as well get it behind me. good morning everybody. great to see you. little wishful thinking on my part, of course. it is thursday, september 20. this is the "full court press." here coming to you live all the way across this great land of ours from our radio studio here

on capitol hill booming out to you on your local progressive talk radio station if you're lucky enough to have one. of course on current tv and every nook and cranny of this great country. nice to have you with us. i know there's a lot you want to talk about this morning in the news so get ready to give us a call at 1-866-55-press. we always save a seat at the table here with you and today if you call, you'll be lucky enough to sit alongside of victoria jones who covers the white house for talk radio news service. in studio with us this morning victoria nice to see you. >> good to talk to you. >> bill: you and i are usually huddled in the fourth or fifth row trying to get jay carney's attention. >> we're there with the serious people. people who ask questions -- where you don't just duplicate each other's questions. >> bill: we're the people who don't ask the same questions that the first person asked because they all want to ask the same question so their camera person can get them asking that

question. >> we don't do that. >> bill: it is only when they get beyond the first row that they get some real questions about real issues. >> that's when jay carney actually has to think. >> bill: yeah. >> it is good for him. >> bill: which he doesn't want to have to do. >> it is tough. he has to do that. he has to go down to his briefing book. >> bill: good to see you here this morning. thanks for getting up early. >> yeah. >> bill: we have the regular team here. team press peter ogborn and dan henning. >> bill, good morning. >> bill: with our great videographer cyprian bowlding. we don't give him a microphone. he's the videographer. we have to wave to cyprian. >> a queen-like wave. >> very nice. >> bill: little girls growing up in england practice the queen wave? >> no. >> you just burst his bubble. >> more like something like combination of the clash and muse.

>> bill: all right. >> they practice a different hand gesture. >> bill: i got it. so president obama not on the campaign trail yesterday. so he sent out the first lady, michelle obama campaigning as hard as he is. she was down in greenville, north carolina, yesterday. first of all saying it's forward, not backward. >> we're going to turn around and go back to the same politics that got us into the hole in the first place? are we going to just sit back and watch everything we've worked for and fought for to just slip away? >> no! >> bill: she's a good campaigner. >> she's a good campaigner and she's in fine fetel. she really is. she is fighting for this gig. >> bill: that speech that she gave in charlotte -- >> it was really, really powerful! >> bill: very much. >> finest thing she's ever done. >> bill: remember in 2008, she

was reluctant to join the battle. now she's a happy warrior out there. >> you almost think she likes her job. >> bill: a big asset i think. >> huge asset. her approval ratings are sky high. far higher than his which are not bad. but she's incredibly popular. incredibly popular. with everybody i think really except with the haters, you know, who have an issue with everything that she does. she's hugely popular. i think she's a very effective speaker because she can speak about obama in a way that nobody else can and she's able to make him warm and fuzzy which nobody else can do. >> bill: right right. very good. very good. and i love seeing her out there. we'll see more and more of her. we'll be joined later by congressman chris van hollen. >> my congressman. >> bill: there you go. democratic strategist peter fenn as a "friend of bill" in the next hour.

victoria, you and i will dive into the issues but first -- >> this is the "full court press." >> on this thursday, other headlines making news, bill gates is once again the richest man in america. the former microsoft ceo tops this year's forbes 400 richest americans list. net worth is $66 billion ahead of warren buffett who is only worth $44 billion. >> loser. >> larry ellison and the koch brothers round out the top five. this year, the price of admission to get on the top 400 list, net worth of $1.1 billion. when they started this back in 1983, the price of admission just $75 million. >> bill: really? >> brawny towels got the koch brothers up there. >> bill: really? >> that's them? >> that's them. >> brawny. >> bill: the difference between bill gates uses his money to do some great stuff.

the koch brothers use all of their money -- where is it? right here. "the obama hate machine" the koch brothers use all of their money to try to defeat barack obama. what a difference. >> isn't bill gates giving all of his money away? >> that's why his net worth has gone down. they're giving so much of their money away. >> it wasn't very kind to call him a loser. >> many in l.a. are excited for the arrival of the space shuttle "endeavour" as it heads to the museum there environmentalists are in an uproar. the shuttle arrives at the l.a. airport and then it will be transported on a big trailer on city streets to the california science center. cbs tells us that in order to make the trip through the city, they're cutting down over 100 trees on major roadways so the kings of the shuttle will fit on the road. the science center, however, has promised to plant four new trees for every one tree it cuts down.

78-foot wide retired space orbiter will take a 12 mile drive through the city. >> bill: i have to tell you. when i was in l.a., i was a member of the board of an organization, great organization, still going called tree people. and we planted -- >> of course you were. [ laughter ] >> bill: we planted a million trees, all of the volunteers did for the olympics in 1984. if i were still out there, i would be raising hell about that. [chainsaw noise] >> bill: i would chain myself to the trees before i would let them cut them down. >> you should go. >> you just found your calling. >> finally this hour, big ratings for dade letterman thanks to president obama. tuesday night's episode of the cbs late show where the president was a guest had the most viewers in over two years! deadline reports on the nielsen ratings, the program's 60% increase over it regular

year-to-date. >> that's incredible. >> just imagine if he put michelle obama on. >> bill: what if they put mitt romney on? >> tank, tank. >> i didn't see it. i heard clips of him being sensible. was he funny? >> bill: he was very funny. >> his timing is incredible. there was a point where letterman asked him you look good. and then obama says you look good and letterman says you haven't seen me naked and obama didn't miss a beat. he said we're going to keep it that way dave. >> bill: he was very sharp. he talked about the white house beer. and letterman asked him so he said they were making this beer and letterman says is that legal? and obama says you know, i don't know. fun times around the white house these days. you know what i've noticed is that with all of this flap this week about -- and we've been talking you know, nonstop about it here on the show. about mitt romney and his comment about the 47% dripping

with disdain. >> debunked. >> bill: who says it was debunked? >> romney. >> bill: romney says it was. exactly. the white house hasn't had too much to say about it. they haven't had to say too much about it. >> if you're digging your own hole -- >> bill: let them keep digging. >> right. i think that's their feeling. i really do. how many democrats have you heard chipping in on this one? i haven't heard harry reid utter a peep. >> bill: harry did. >> what did he say? >> bill: he went on the floor of the senate and said -- which i think is a big question -- is mitt romney one of the 47%, one of the persons who pays zero income tax because we don't know. >> that's sweet. >> bill: other than that, you're right. democrats have not been piling on. scott brown linda mcmahon dean heller from nevada, susan collins, bill christoph.

republicans have been piling on. >> those who do pay income tax most of them do pay a higher percentage of their income tax than mitt romney does say at 13.9%. they're paying 15% or higher percentage income tax. >> bill: plus they're paying other taxes as well. and other taxes which he is probably not paying anyway because we don't know because of how little he's released. >> bill: all the president said -- happened to be on letterman was mitt romney may say that but i've learned as president, when you're in the position like this, you have to represent all americans. 100% of americans. you can't say this 50% of americans are trash are bums and i'm not even going to try to get their vote. which is what mitt romney said. >> mitt romney said -- i can't worry -- i don't worry -- i don't even worry about those people. i can't worry about them. he said something like that. and this isn't the first time he's said it because previously said i'm not concerned at all

about the very poor. he said this twice and then in his press conference which i have the transcript of, he didn't walk back that. it was only later when he realized how bad it was that he went on neil cavuto and basically tried to walk it back. but he said it three times before clearly the press of it got to him and he had to walk it back. but if you've said it three times, you've said it three times. you had a press conference specifically to clarify your remarks and didn't you walk them back. >> bill: here's a question. so you -- with talk radio news, right. you provide commentary and news from the white house to hundreds of talk radio stations around the country. you're talking to these people all day long. is this getting out? are people talking about this? >> yes. >> bill: other than outside the beltway. are people talking about these comments? do they know about them? >> yes. >> bill: is it part of the buzz? >> yes yes. it is very much the buzz in talk

radio. it's got different takes depending on whether i'm talking to a conservative talk show host a neutral talk show host or a progressive talk show host. >> bill: are conservatives defending romney? >> some are defending romney and some are saying that they have listeners calling in defending romney and saying they agree with him and they think this is becoming a nation of takers. there may be takers in this nation and in fact, 6.9% of americans are paying no income tax. no this and no nothing. that's a fact. do you really think that half the population are takers? you cannot possibly justify that. i had a screaming row in massachusetts, as a matter of fact. who was saying his listeners said that and that he basically agreed. how could he say that half of america are takers? it is just statistically impossible. >> bill: but if you take about takers makers and takers, that's the whole thing.

i would argue that nobody has taken more than the people at the very top. and they want -- they still want more and mitt romney and paul ryan want to give them even more in terms of taking their tax cuts, parking their money in bermuda and the cayman islands and a swiss bank account. they're taking. they're taking that money which could go to middle class or the poor in terms of tax cuts. they're taking it instead with the bush tax cuts. and they not only extend them but pile on top and make them even bigger than they are. that's the ultimate taking, isn't it? >> that's true. of course, many major corporations aren't paying tax. >> bill: yes right. >> interestingly, of that 47% some of those who are not paying taxes who are low income are able to not pay tax through the bounty of the bush tax cuts. which is a great thing for them. >> bill: also through tax advantages that republican presidents ronald reagan, gerry

ford, the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit that have provided. so there's just so much contradiction in what mitt romney said. we'll take a quick break and bring knew the conversation here with victoria jones about the romney comments on his now infamous video. a video that he says has been debunked and ann romney says was taken out of context. what possible context is the right context to say that half of americans are freeloaders? maybe she should stick to dressage, you think? >> indeed. she didn't do very well there. we won. >> bill: no. remember, you're an american citizen now. >> they won. >> bill: the brits won. victoria jones. call us at 1-866-55-press. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show" live on your radio

and on current tv. trickle down does not work. in romney's world, cars get the elevator and the workers get the shaft. that is a whole bunch of bunk. the powerful may steal an election, but they can't steal

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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. >> bill: 25 minutes after the hour. the "full court press." congressman chris van hollen the ranking democrat on the house budget committee knows the paul ryan budget inside and out. he will be joining us in the next segment here in studio. right now, we are visiting with victoria jones talk radio news service covers the white house. before we get to the phones, a couple of other things mitt romney has said. also on the same video. he said basically that he doesn't see any hope for peace in the middle east and he doesn't care about it. >> no, he was asked about how to

solve the palestinian problem. and he said that palestinians don't want peace. basically all palestinians don't want peace. they're committed to the destruction of israel. all palestinians are committed to the destruction of israel. no point in pursuing peace and he made it very clear he's not in favor of a two-state solution which is part of the republican platform, by the way. and he also said that he doesn't think the israelis should be asked to give up anything. >> bill: right. and then yesterday in his interview with -- he said for the second time that if only his father who was born in mexico but of american parents if only his father had been a mexican born in mexico, he, mitt romney would be a lot better off today. >> to say this is unbelievably offensive. does nobody get that this is an offensive remark? >> bill: i do.

and the father -- the family was down there because they could get away with polygamy. does nobody get this? >> bill: he's bragging about his polygamist roots. >> bill: also the idea that -- i mean you ask one of these kids who was here today like the dreamers right who happen to be born in mexico and brought over with their parents about what -- about the difficulties they've had trying to make it in this country when so many people are against them just because they happen to have come from mexico originally. did them how -- ask them how easy it is. if he would have the gravy train if only he were a mexican. >> i think being a wasp is easier. he's not a wasp exactly. he's a wasome. we both came to it. here's gary from fairmont, west virginia. hey, gary. >> caller: how are you? >> bill: what's going on? >> caller: well, i'm a disabled veteran. 11 years on active duty.

at the veterans administration on disability in 2007 for over 16 different items. i worked my whole life. but i am one of them 47%. it depends on the government. >> bill: gary, i'm sorry to do this. i just got enough time. gary exemplifies the people that mitt romney is talking about. served his country. paid his taxes. >> and not a victim! not a victim! >> bill: not a victim. not a freeloader. not a moocher. >> a servant to this nation. >> bill: exactly. people we ought to be saying thank you to rather than shame on you right? victoria, you and i we have so much fun when we get together. thank you for coming in. we'll see you again soon. >> thank you. >> bill: thanks for your good work on talk radio news. i'll be back with chris

van hollen. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." i.q. will go way up. how are you ever going to solve the problem if you don't look at all of the pieces? >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >>you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. >>sharp tongue, quick whit and above all, politically direct. >>you just think there is no low they won't go to. oh, no. if al gore's watching today...

>> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show" live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: 33 minutes after the hour. here we go on current tv and on your local progressive talk radio station the "full court press." this thursday morning. september 20. coming to you live from our studio here on capitol hill. brought to you today by the international brotherhood of teamsters, the good men and women of the teamsters union under president jim hoffa. building a better america. you can find out more about their good work at

www.teamster.org. well, this is it. this is the last time we're going to see members of congress here in the nation's capital until after the election. these couple of days. and we don't know what the republicans have in mind. probably not very much. but here -- leading the charge for the democrats our good friend congressman chris van hollen representing maryland's eighth congressional district. and also the ranking democrat on the house budget committee. good friend of the program. very generous with his team and in studio again this morning. good to see you congressman. >> good to see you bill. >> bill: now with your political hat on, when you see a candidate who's running for president and starts out by saying well, 50% of the american people i don't care about because i know they're going to vote for the other guy anyway. i'm not even going to try to get their vote. is that a good start? >> even for someone who is as

out of touch and elitist as mitt romney, i would still just take -- i was taken away, breathless the fact he made that comment because in addition to dissing 47% of the american people, if you unpack that comment, it gets even worse because, as you know, among those voters, you've got about 40% of senior citizens who have paid into medicare and social security and here's mitt romney telling that they're sort of loafing on the government. on the government. that they're just getting welfare. >> bill: moochers. >> and then, of course, you've got some of our soldiers who we decided should not be taxed on their combat pay. that was the right decision. somehow i guess he thinks that they should be taxed or they're not taking enough personal responsibility. so you unpack that statement and you can understand why so many republicans were aghast as well. >> bill: a certain percentage of the 47% are people like mitt

romney. aren't they? >> well, of course. >> bill: and maybe mitt romney himself. >> here's the crazy thing bill, right. all of these people, these are people who are still paying about 15% in federal taxes and federal payroll taxes if you look at the effective rate between their contribution and what their employer has taken out of their paycheck for them. so all of these people, the great majority are paying a higher effective tax rate than mitt romney. because as far as we know even on the returns she's showed us, 13%. of course he refuses to show us his past tax returns. this is a guy who's done very well, putting money in swiss bank accounts and using other vehicles to avoid taxes and again, his effective tax rate is lower than the people he's complaining about. it is just -- again takes your breath away. >> bill: a couple of things,

where these people live. the tax policy center, that's the source for the 46.4% of americans who pay no federal income tax. also identified where they live. the states that they live in. we mentioned this yesterday. i can't stress them enough because they are top ten mississippi, arkansas, georgia alabama, south carolina, new mexico florida idaho louisiana and texas. john mccain carried eight of those ten states. this is a -- this is mitt romney's base. >> as you say the deeper you dig into this comment the worse it gets for him. and you know, you mention of course florida swing state. among those. why is that? because you have lots of retirees. you have lots of seniors. seniors who paid into medicare. paid into social security. and here's mitt romney essentially talking down to

them. i mean that's just on top of course of their plan to voucherize medicare and increase cost to seniors on medicare by making them pay higher premiums and higher co-pays in order to reinstate the overpayments to insurance companies so on top of policies that hit them across the head, he's insulting all of these individuals as well. >> bill: now there's no doubt that this has been not politically bad for romney, good for president obama. the important question is will this help some of the down ballot candidates. will this lift in the polls which we've seen in the swing states, even before these comments coming out of the convention for president obama. is this going to help candidates for the house and for the senate? >> i think it will. the momentum that you have begun to see in favor of the president is generating additional momentum for our house candidates. you see the generic polls. republican versus democrat

congressional polls widening. now look we're still about 50 days out. we've got some time to go. it is important that we keep the foot on the gas here. but clearly this is good news all around. i don't mean just that particular comment but the fact that mitt romney is so out of touch. when it comes to the economy. and that when you look at the choice that these two candidates present, the romney/ryan plan versus the plan that the president's put forward theirs is obviously one -- it is designed simply to help people like mitt romney at the expense of the rest of the country. >> bill: "the washington post" reporting this morning that -- just to take one -- virginia, right across the river. tim kaine former governor, former democratic national chair up against former senator george alan. tim kaine holding a lead of 51% to 43% in a state that has until

recently been considered a red state but barack obama made it purple perhaps. >> that's right. virginia is very much a swing state. and the numbers we just saw for tim kaine are very good news. look, he did a great job as governor of virginia. i think the people of virginia recognize that. george alan simply wants to sort of take them back to the failed policies of the bush administration. of course george allen was part of the failed policies. so that comes on top of polls showing that the president is 6 points ahead in virginia. so again good news. but we just gotta keep pushing on the economy. and in terms of the choices that the voters are confronting in this election. >> bill: you spent two terms i believe as -- two years as head of the democratic congressional campaign committee. time when democrats picked up a lot of seats and took control of the house of representatives.

if you had to look forward today to november 6th are democrats going to regain control of the house? >> well, i was chairman of the dccc for two-cycles. one was a good cycle 2008 where we came off of a win in 2006. picked up even more seats. 2010 didn't work. i've seen the highs and the lows but we're definitely climbing back. we will gain seats. momentum is with us. if things continue, we have a very decent shot of getting to that magic number of 25. again, what we're seeing is that the more people focus on the choice in this election and the different paths forward on the economy, the more they're rejecting the romney/ryan approach because they recognize that it's designed to provide another round of big tax breaks for someone like mitt romney. >> bill: definitely pick up

seats, not quite willing to say for sure we'll take back the house. >> you know -- the odds are improving every day. >> bill: on this issue -- you sit there -- you're the democrat alongside of paul ryan on that house budget committee. you know this budget inside and out. is this -- is this becoming an issue in these house races? are democrats able to run against a republican budget and are republicans running away from it? >> there is no doubt republicans are running very fast but they're being chased by our democratic candidates who are saying you can run but you can't hide. from your vote. >> bill: they're on the record. >> absolutely. they voted twice for this budget and you know, what this budget does is show very clearly what the republican priorities are and what it says is they're going to dramatically cut tax rates for very high income individuals. that has two consequences. number one, the independent tax

policy center has shown that middle income taxpayers will have to foot the bill. they'll have to pay more in taxes in order to pay for the lost revenue because romney says he's going to do this in a deficit neutral manner. that means middle income taxpayers will have to pay more to make up for the lost revenue for people like mitt romney. number one. number two because they have no additional revenue as part of their budget plan, their deficit reduction flan, the revenue been called for by commissions because they don't ask for one penny more from people like mitt romney, they're going to cut -- they ask seniors on medicare to pick up much more of the cost and seniors will pay more immediately. under their voucher plan, seniors will get hit. seniors in let whacked. kids education investment in infrastructure, things that have helped power the economy. so the choice they make is

really clear. more tax breaks for people like mitt romney at the expense of everyone else. >> bill: as pointed out -- reminds me of of some of the things bill clinton said in his great speech. finally, congressman, i ask you about this point i spoke to the board of afscme last night. great union. new president lee saunders. and a point that i made and i just like your comments on it. the point i made was that as important as it is to re-elect barack obama that's not enough. to have a president in the white house without a congress to work with is going to prevent him from really accomplishing what we want him to accomplish in the next four years. so talk to us about just briefly -- how important is it to hold on to the senate and to get back the house. i think the american people have to understand, it has to be the full package. >> it is very important because look, look what we've seen for the last two parties since the tea party republicans took over the house. absolutely total obstruction. of course, mitch mcconnell

infamously said their top priority was not jobs, not the economy but defeating the president. that's the attitude they've all brought. their view is if they can block the president somehow the voters will reward republicans. and you know what? it is backfiring because the voters want us to make progress and they want us to make some tough decisions. they want us to compromise. in the house of representatives with the tea party guys, compromise is a dirty word. they celebrate the fact that they're doubling down on a very extreme agenda. and so it's really important that the president have a partner in congress that he can work with. after all, when he was first elected, the economy was in free fall. because of the emergency actions taken by the president with the democratic congress at the time, we stopped the free fall and turned the corner. now with the tea party guys in charge, they've been sitting on the president's most recent jobs bill. because the president said look, we stopped the free fall. we're making progress. we're not far enough. but a year ago this month he

submitted to congress a jobs bill and they have refused to hold a vote on it. let me make this last point because it was really revealing last week. we were talking about the sequester and we all agreed that these across the board sequester cuts would would be really bad. we heard our republican colleagues say if you cut defense spending, you'll lose jobs. ericeric cantor was saying this will result in 200,000 jobs lost in virginia. if you don't spend as much money investing in defense you'll lose jobs. well if you don't spend as much money investing in building our bridges, in our roads in our infrastructure, you lose jobs, too. and yet they're sitting on the president's jobs bill. they're talking out of both sides of their mouth on this issue and the press has to call them on this. >> bill: that's why we need the continued democratic control. pick up some seats in the senate. get the senate -- get the house back in democratic hands and give president obama a team he can work with.

congressman chris van hollen thanks for coming in. >> good to be with you. >> bill: good to see you. i'll be back here with our "full court press" on this thursday morning. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." trickle down does not work. in romney's world, cars get the elevator and the workers get the shaft. that is a whole bunch of bunk. the powerful may steal an election, but they can't steal democracy.

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>>"if you ever raise taxes on >>the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true! >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: here we go at 10 minutes now before the top of the hour. peter fenn, democratic strategist will be here as a "friend of bill" in the next hour. we'll get back to the news of the day in just a second. speaking of news, here's an item that caught my attention.

out of boca raton florida, it was not the romney video. but a florida man is thanking life lock. at least he should be thanking life lock today. after life lock called him and said hey somebody's been trying to steal your i.d. it was a man who had tried to change his bank user name and password in an attempt to move money from an account that's legitimately in his name to one that is not. life lock noticed it. picked up the attempt. alerted authorities. alerted the man and the identity theft was thwarted. read a story like that, it reminds you how important it is to protect yourself against identity theft. i've done so with life lock ultimate. the most comprehensive i.d. theft protection ever made includes even covering your bankú accounts like this guy discovered. encourage you to look into it as well. life lock can't protect if you you're not a member. call now and mention press 60 for 60 risk-free days of life

lock ultimate identity theft protection. if you're not happy call them again within 60 days and cancel and you'll get a full refund. see life lock.com for details. call them at 800-356-5967. that is life lock ultimate. >> bill: big anniversary today. boy, amazing how much debate, how much trouble there was, how much the exaggerated threats were made about what would happen if we ever got rid of don't ask don't tell. that policy that required members of the military who happen to be gay or lesbian to live a lie and not admit who they were. today's the first anniversary of the repeal of don't ask don't tell. and the pentagon is reporting that guess what? everything is working out just fine. in fact, most of the military

commanders say, the head of the marines is quoted today as saying he goes all around the world in front of marines and bases all around the world every day and he's almost never even asked about it anymore. recruitment is up. people are -- our retention is up in the military. morale is up in the military. and so rick santorum was dead -- and others, dead wrong about getting rid of don't ask, don't tell, has not destroyed the american trail afterall. -- military afterall. good to have you with us on the "full court press." >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show" now on current tv. really a big shortage of specially qualified teachers in the country. >> bill: sitting right in the chair, dennis van roekel, head

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>> announcer: this is the "bill >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: so coming up in the next hour, peter fenn, democratic strategist will be here with us as a "friend of bill" for the entire hour. we will be joined by michael calderon, media reporter for "huffington post" on the attempts by mitt romney to try to change the subject from 47% to barack obama's comments back in 1998 about redistribution. meanwhile, the president himself back on the campaign trail today. big time. he will first get the daily briefing at the white house at 9:30 this morning. then an hour later he heads from the white house out to join andrews air force base. leaving andrews at 11:00 this

morning going down to miami florida. where he will do his -- take his turn at the univision town hall. probably getting a little better reception from the latino community than mitt romney did yesterday with his joke about i would be a lot better off if i were born a mexican. then president obama will leave miami and head off to tampa florida. yes, not just republicans in tampa. there are a bunch of democrats in tampa well as well. the president will be delivering remarks at a campaign event private residence in tampa at 10 minutes to 7:00 this evening. and then leaves tampa. back here to washington, d.c., arriving back at the white house tonight at 11 -- scheduled to arrive back at 11:25 p.m. jay carney will hold his press briefing today on air force i. we'll be back. with more news here on the "full court press."

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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hey, good morning everybody. welcome to the "full court press." this is current tv's "full court press" on this thursday, september 20. good to you have with us today. we've got lots to talk about. whether it's happening here in our nation's capital or around the country or around the globe we'll tell you what's going on and give you a chance to sound off about it by giving us a call at 1-866-55-press. and on the big 47% video mitt romney and ann romney came out yesterday and said poor mitt,

his remarks were taken out of context. what i want to know is exactly what context is it okay to say that 47% of americans are moochers and freeloaders? maybe ann romney ought to stick to dressage and get out of politics. all right. we'll get into that and a whole lot more. first, let's didn't to l.a. and say good morning to lisa ferguson with today's current news update. good morning. >> hey bill, good morning everyone. with a slew of criticism against him, mitt romney is trying to turn the focus away from the 47% and toward -- well, pretty much anything else. today his campaign is out with a new ad about medicare featuring florida senator marco rubio. >> mitt romney and paul ryan get it. medicare's going broke. that's not politics. it is math. anyone who wants to leave medicare like it is -- >> here's the problem with that claim. the romney/ryan plan is actually the one that speeds up the bankruptcy of medicare and would

cause the system to go broke in just four years. that's because romney's promising to repeal the affordable care act and now the two say they would also restore $716 billion worth of cuts to the program. but keep in mind that those cuts were taking money away from fraud and abuse within the system and not from healthcare itself. unless ryan comes up with a way to pay for putting the money back, he's just adding to the national deficit. president obama's plan extends medicare until at least the year 2024. medicare advantage plans are actually thriving right now. the congressional budget office estimated that the president's plan which reduces payments to medicare advantage would help the program but by next year, enrollment should be up by about 30% and costs of premiums will be down by 10%. that is all while keeping the same amount of coverage and benefits. back with more bill press after

the break. stay with us. there's joy and now there's joy on current tv. >>i feel like i don't even know you. >>just stay on your side of the screen, okay? >>brought to you by geico. 15 minutes could save 15% or more on car insurance. visit geico.com for a free rate quote.

>>i jump out of my skin at people when i'm upset. they're doing this this corruption based on

corruption based on corruption. >>that's an understatement, eliot. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: broadcasting >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: barack obama spent the day off campaigning yesterday so he sent michelle obama out on the road. and she wowed them in north carolina. the most effective campaigner probably of the whole damn bunch. hello, everybody. what do you say? good to see you. here we go. thursday, september 20. can you believe it? it is the "full court press." here on current tv. and on your local progressive talk radio station. most importantly. good to have you with us today. thank you for joining us and

don't forget whether you're watching or listening, you can go out and expand your fun by joining the chat room. the chat room, if you go to current.com and just click you'll join all of your fellow "full court pressers" across the land and you can talk about and debate the issues that we're talking about here on the air among yourselves. it is always a lot of fun. good to have you with us. we invite your calls at 1-866-55-press. we save a seat at the table for you. if you call this hour, you'll be lucky enough to take a seat alongside democratic strategist, good friend of the program peter fenn. hello, peter. >> hello bill! >> bill: welcome back. >> great to be back. >> bill: we always get our juices flowing. >> we get our juices flowing any time. [ laughter ] >> bill: back with the whole team of course. peter ogborn. >> yes indeed. >> bill: dan henning. >> good morning. >> bill: cyprian bowlding, our

videographer. peter, we talked earlier about this. there's no such thing as global warming, right? >> never has been. never will be. >> bill: and there's no evidence of it. at all. >> no, nothing happening out there. >> bill: there is a story this morning about the amount of arctic snow and ice that has melted. well, i would have to say this is no big deal. i mean here is mark -- i never heard of this group or this outfit. the national snow and ice data center. >> okay. >> bill: seems like they would know if anybody knows. >> i would hope. >> bill: they tell us how little of the arctic ice has actually melted. just listen carefully here. >> looking at the united states, all of the states east of the mississippi plus throwing in minnesota, iowa, montana arkansas louisiana the dakotas, nebraska, kansas, we've lost an area -- larger than half

the size of the united states. >> bill: can you believe that? larger than half the size of the united states. over the last ten years. snow and ice, it's gone. gone. no longer in the arctic. they say there's no such thing as global warming. >> we'll have to move to utah. [ laughter ] that's unbelievable, isn't it? >> bill: what's left. you have people like jim inhoff and others who just say -- >> people like mitt romney who doesn't seem to want to take a stand on the issue. as usual. >> bill: that's an enormous amount of territory. we were saying earlier so where is all of the snow and ice and water go? >> exactly. the other issue on this, bill, is you know, it's not like we freeze it again right? there's no turning back. if you don't hit this problem soon, we're really going to -- >> bill: before we get to dan here and the full court -- i want you to join me in a little shout out to a good friend down in asheville north carolina.

aunt vera is 93 years old. heard from her yesterday. she's got every radio in her house tuned in to the "full court press." >> congratulations! >> bill: aunt vera. taken care of by cousin elabor. big shout out to cousin elaine and aunt vera. god love you and get all of the democrats in north carolina -- >> i hope she heard michelle yesterday. >> bill: i suspect that aunt vera may be one of the 47% however. >> yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. now mitt romney is for 100%. he's going to support 100% of americans. [ laughter ] >> bill: peter is with us as a "friend of bill" this hour and as well as aunt vera. michael calderon from "huffington post" along. he's a media reporter that will join us just a little bit later. but first -- dan. >> on this thursday, other headlines making news, this mock debate between bill o'reilly and jon stewart where half of the

proceeds are going to charity are sold out. if you really want to go, you can find tickets on sub hub at $250 all the way up to $1200 per ticket for this debate. for secondary sale. it is being moderated by cnn edie hill. it takes place october 6th at the george washington university or you can watch it online for $5. >> bill: fun to see if you can charge admission for the obama/romney debate. how much could you sell the tickets for. >> bakery is hoping that cupcakes can help bring congress together. the hill reports the california-based sprinkles cupcake chain which has a location here in washington has started a new anti-partisanship campaign called pay it forward. they're giving a free dozen cupcakes to every lawmaker who wants a box on one condition they have to gift those cupcakes to a lawmaker of the opposing party. >> bill: every one of them? all 12? >> yes.

>> bill: oh, baloney. maybe one. >> you get a dozen cupcakes. you have to give it to a republican if you're a democrat. >> bill: that's no deal. >> is this an obesity plan or what? >> they're trying to be -- here's a box -- >> bill: look, everybody knows georgetown cupcakes are the best cupcakes. >> free plug. a new survey by market source tells us what america's favorite hamburger joint is. out of -- >> bill: five guys. >> you got it right! how about that. >> bill: i just discovered a new five guys. they're popping up everywhere. >> they're huge. they started in arlington virginia. >> bill: i know. >> they're number one. in-n-out burger is number two. followed by fuddrucker's, a & w and smash burger. wendy's made it into the top ten.

mcdonald's and burger king did not. >> bill: that's amazing five guys has taken over. in-n-out was always the best burger. >> bill: i forgot about tommy burger. they're not only the -- the best, they're the sloppiest. just drips down you when you're eating a tommy burger. oh peter. >> i got you now. >> bill: oh, man. >> do we have a shout out for this gentleman? >> happy birthday for dan! he let it slip. >> the only one to wish me a happy birthday. >> no one knew. >> he was keeping it quiet. but i invite you guys to the nationals dodgers game. i got tickets tonight and he said he couldn't go because it was his birthday. so happy birthday. >> thank you very much. i appreciate it. >> bill: keeping it a secret. >> i wasn't going to make it a "full court press." i'm not going to put myself up on a pedestal. >> he wouldn't put himself on a

pedestal like that. >> bill: we won't do what the waiters do. ♪ happy happy birthday ♪ ♪ happy, happy birthday, it's time for you you to go ♪ >> bill: can we have a little john boehner? >> hang on. ♪ this is your birthday song ♪ ♪ it doesn't last too long ♪ ♪ hey ♪ >> i'm leaving. >> bill: all right. get out. [ laughter ] peter, we've been talking so much about this mitt romney video, the 47%. i want to get your take on it, too. first, switch from other important races. i notice this morning "the washington post" reports that tim kaine is up, democratic candidate for senate in virginia is up 8 points over george allen, 51% to 43%. in massachusetts elizabeth warren is up 4 points -- first

debate tonight over scott brown. 48 to 44%. tammy baldwin was about 10 points or so more behind tommy thompson in wisconsin. she's now tied tommy thompson. what's going on here? >> some polls show her up. >> bill: see a little trend? >> the question is look, six weeks is an eternity in politics. six days can be an eternity in politics. but something is happening out there. we are seeing movement. as they say, trickle down from the top here. and you know, i don't know how this thing is going to end up. but you know, chris van hollen on earlier. there's optimism out there that not only do we hold the senate but if things really break he might even pick up a seat or two which would be unbelievable. and then the house 25 seats is a lot of seats. but things are trending democrats way. the economy is showing signs of

improvement. the projections for the fourth quarter are good. you know, i think the meltdown, the mitt meltdown is -- is going into those local races. i'm still not -- this is -- we've got a lot to do in the next month and a half. >> bill: oh, yeah. in addition to the senate races come sort of in light of the latest national poll for the presidency. nbc, "wall street journal" out this week, 5 points, president obama up and up in most of the key swing states, correct? >> that's exactly right. i was looking at the -- i always thought that nbc "wall street journal" poll was a good one because it was bill mcintyre who his firm is romney's pollster and peter hart, a democrat. so you don't get this bias. it is also not a computerized

poll. they actually interview these people. and they stay on a trend analysis. you really can look every month at what the changes are and i urge your listeners to get the full report. you get a few snapshots from chuck dodd. but stuff that really hit me, bill, is if you look at the right direction wrong track numbers which are always a concern for an incumbent it has moved 7 points since last month to right direction. from 32 to 39. that's the highest since september of 2009. that's the highest number that we've seen. >> bill: that's a good indication. people are feeling better. >> that's right. there's no question about that. but you know, when you start looking at those kinds of internals, the other obviously is the approval of obama's -- which is now -- it is above 50. so that in the neighborhood of those folks --

>> bill: also, i saw that on the issues, obama's been ahead on every issue except the economy. now he's ahead of romney. >> exactly. the only slippage that they showed with the crises in the middle east was on the whole foreign policy question. but it's still -- he is still ahead. that's the other thing. if you have a president a that's well-liked which clearly we've established for a long time that american voters like obama. and then he leads on all of the issues, that's huge. and basically we haven't led on foreign policy, terrorism since prior to george mcgovern. >> bill: is that right? >> that's a long time. >> bill: how about the swing state? the key swing states? >> florida is trending up. north carolina is even trending up. i still -- that's a tough one. virginia obviously as we've talked about both the senate race and the latest poll there. 8 points they showed obama up. ohio up by as much as five, six

points in some of the polls. the other thing is what's going off the table bill. this is the key thing where you have to defend, where you can go on the offensive. i took a look at all of these states and once you take pennsylvania and you say okay, we're not going to advertise there -- >> bill: which republicans have done. >> and michigan. >> bill: and michigan. >> those are huge then you get those that are givens, washington oregon, california, michigan illinois, pennsylvania, new york delaware connecticut vermont rhode island d.c., i would put new mexico in the category or close to it, that's 238 electoral votes. that's 32. there are 115 out there. you've got florida. that's 29. >> bill: so is there any way romney can win? >> obviously there is a way he can win but he needs to turn this thing around drastically. here's the problem. romney is romney. romney is tone-deaf, bill. he can't do it.

>> bill: now what makes you think that? >> every single interview he gives, he says something which all of us just go are you kidding me? and i think the problem too is whin you get a campaign -- when you get a campaign in this kind of shape, we saw with mccain as things go south they panic. they're looking for the home run and the big hit. they started with ryan. ryan was a terrible pick. so was sarah palin. you know, they -- they start sniping. the fund-raisers start to close their checkbooks. there was a story in the paper today about the big event in new york city and there was a table. ten people that had given $2500 each for that event. many had raised as much as $50,000. they took a poll around that table. and they asked how many of the folks -- the ten romney supporters thought he would win. zero. >> bill: get out. >> nobody thought he would win.

>> bill: of his own supporters. >> of his own supporters. i think we're not popping champagne corks. there a lot of work to do. the other thing that's important is if you look at the polling numbers on likely voters versus registered voters, the gap between romney and obama is larger. obama does even better amongst the registered voters. where is his ground game? superb. they've been working on it from the beginning. in new hampshire my sister is up there. she was volunteering. she asked the folks how many headquarters do you have? how many offices here in new hampshire? they have 25 staffed with professional staffers in new hampshire. four electoral votes. 25. you know the romney campaign, five. >> bill: wow. >> the ground game is very important. and our folks -- they're going to do everything to pull them out. i think they'll do a good job. >> bill: after charlotte the base is really, really excited. by the way, the unions are really excited too. with afscme last night they're

going full bore on this. laborers in miami they're going full bore as well as the other unions as well. we're talking politics 2012. with peter fenn here on the "full court press." you are welcome to join the conversation at 1-866-55-press. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. trickle down does not work. in romney's world, cars get the elevator and the workers get the shaft. that is a whole bunch of bunk. the powerful may steal an election, but they can't steal democracy.

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